The Kimberly-Clark Nursing Research Award is granted to a nurse researcher whose proposal investigates variables relevant to women’s health, obstetric and neonatal nursing. Dr. Ivory’s receipt of this award marks the third year that the Kimberly-Clark Nursing Research Award has been presented by AWHONN.

Dr. Ivory is an Assistant Professor at Vanderbilt School of Nursing in Nashville, TN and the Associate Chief Nurse Executive for Professional Practice and Care Transformation at Indiana University Health System in Indianapolis, IN.Dr. Ivory’s research interest’s center around the use of electronic documentation to answer nursing and health services research questions. She is also interested in factors that facilitate or impede normal physiologic birth. The goals of Dr. Ivory’s research are to use nursing care documentation to demonstrate the value of nursing care to patient and population outcomes and to show health IT to be a tool that facilitates, rather than impedes nursing care.

Dr. Ivory has nearly 20 years of maternity care nursing experience as a bedside nurse, clinical specialist, and women’s services nursing administrator. She is a past president of the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN), representing 350,000 nurses in her specialty.

“Nurses play a crucial role in supporting women through their pregnancy,” said AWHONN’s Chief Executive Officer, Lynn Erdman, MN, RN, FAAN. “Dr. Ivory’s research will enhance best practices for nurses when using Health Information Technology.”

An AWHONN member, Dr. Ivory earned her Bachelor’s degree at Mercer University-Georgia Baptist College of Nursing, her Master’s degree from Georgia College and State University, and her PhD in Nursing Science from Vanderbilt University School of Nursing. She worked as a child birth educator for nine years and as a corporate director for three years focusing on women’s services. Dr. Ivory is widely published on the integration of technology and nursing.

As a way of furthering their commitment and support for nurses, AWHONN and Kimberly-Clark also awarded four Millennial Nurse Scholarships to nurses and nursing students pursuing their careers in neonatal or perinatal nursing. The scholarships included complimentary registration, hotel and airfare to attend the AWHONN 2017 Annual Convention, as well as a one-year membership to AWHONN. The Kimberly-Clark Huggies Millennial Nurse Scholarships were awarded to Katelyn Banta, RN, BSN; Karen Brown, BSN, RN, Ashley Huesman, BSN, RN, CBC; and Kathryn Markon, RN, BSN.

“We’d like to congratulate Dr. Ivory and our young nurse scholarship recipients for their ongoing dedication to providing the very best care for babies, families and communities,” said Aric Melzl, General Manager, Huggies Healthcare at Kimberly-Clark. “The Kimberly-Clark Huggies team values the critical role nurses play in providing babies with the care they need to thrive.”

“No Baby Unhugged” is Huggies’ promise to ensure that all babies get the hugs they need to thrive. Through No Baby Unhugged, the brand partners with nurses to provide hospitals with superior, specially-designed products. The program is designed to deliver clinical insights to support and advance education on newborn skin and development, enable more volunteer hugger programs in hospitals and assist families in need by raising diaper-need awareness and donations.

Since 1969, the Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) has been the foremost authority promoting the health of women and newborns and strengthening the nursing profession through the delivery of superior advocacy, research, education, and other professional and clinical resources. AWHONN represents the interests of 350,000 registered nurses working in women's health, obstetric, and neonatal nursing across the United States. Learn more about AWHONN at www.awhonn.org.

About Kimberly-Clark

Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its well-known global brands are an indispensable part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Every day, nearly a quarter of the world's population trust Kimberly-Clark brands and the solutions they provide to enhance their health, hygiene and well-being. With brands such as Kleenex, Scott, Huggies, Pull-Ups, Kotex and Depend, Kimberly-Clark holds the No.1 or No. 2 share position in 80 countries. To keep up with the latest news and to learn more about the company's 145-year history of innovation, visit http://www.kimberly-clark.com/or follow us on Facebookand Twitter.

About the Huggies Brand

Huggies believes deeply in the Power of Hugs. That's why every Huggies diaper and wipe is inspired by parents' hugs. For nearly 40 years, Huggies has been helping parents provide love, care and reassurance to help babies thrive. No Baby Unhugged is Huggies promise to ensure babies get the care they need to thrive, including innovative everyday products, growing hospital hugger programs, specially-designed products for the smallest of babies, on-going clinical research and resources, and diaper and wipes donations. Huggies is the fastest growing diaper brand in hospitals and partners with NICU nurses to develop diapers and wipes that meet the specific needs of pre-term infants. For more information on Huggies No Baby Unhugged program visit the "Why Huggies?" page at Huggies.com.

As a nurse you have the ability to make a difference in your patients’ lives. AWHONN membership provides you with the resources, tools and opportunities to provide the best care to your patients. JOIN NOW

Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Commission on Accreditation.

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